Ellis Johnson has been fired after one winless season at Southern Mississippi.

Johnson's Golden Eagles were 0-12—just one year after climbing to a 12-2 record and upsetting then-unbeaten Houston to win the Conference USA title. Southern Miss went on to beat Nevada in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

"At Southern Miss we expect to compete hard and succeed both in the classroom and on the field," athletic director Jeff Hammond said. "This is not the exception...This is in fact the standard, the norm, our identity and who we are.

"In this regard, we have already initiated a search for a new head coach. We will move rapidly in this effort seeking a dynamic leader with the character to lead our program back to prominence."

Johnson has had three head coaching jobs: one year at Gardner-Webb (1983), The Citadel (2001-2003) and USM (2012).